Testing time for Scott
Island day key ahead of season
FORGET Adelaide; today marks the start of Scott McLaughlin’s Supercars championship defence.
A fortnight out from the first race weekend of the year, McLaughlin and his 23 driving rivals will fire up their engines to get testing underway all day at Phillip Island in southern Victoria.
Testing might not be the most exciting spectacle for onlookers but the DJR Team Penske spearhead recognises it will set the tone for his 2019 campaign, especially as they debut the highly anticipated Mustang model.
“Oh for sure, it’s important,” said the former Saint Stephen’s College student.
“We only get a few test days a year so to get out at Phillip Island and have a good crack at a track that is really good for testing, it’s got everything that we need – fast corners, fast straights, tight hairpins – so it will be great.”
While their chief rivals Red Bull Holden Racing Team have a known quantity in the ZB Commodore, DJRTP must quickly come to grips with the Mustang to ensure they hit the ground running right from the Adelaide 500 across February 28 to
March 3.
Having beaten Red Bull’s Shane van Gisbergen to the 2018 title by just 71 points, McLaughlin took the chance to spend time in New Zealand and New York in a familyorientated off-season.
He returned with a clear vision in mind as he and the team try to now become longterm title contenders.
“I’m excited for the year but everyone is on zero points now, it’s just a matter of trying to feel that (winning) feeling again and that’s what the motivation is,” McLaughlin said.
“What Jamie (Whincup and Red Bull) have done is fantastic … this day and age it’s very hard to keep at the top of any sport. If we’re doing that, it’s a big tick of the box in our world.”